‘As our financial year ends on 31 May, it is appropriate at this time to reflect on the year.
Like most businesses, we have seen something of a rebound following the Covid years, but it seems investors and entrepreneurs remain cautious – so we are not quite back to ‘normal’.
The Sovereign Art Foundation has finally been able to resume a full range of activities and, for the first time in four years, we were able to hold our gala dinner and auction as an ‘in-person’ live event in Hong Kong. The great and the good attended the ballroom in the Four Seasons Hotel on 19 May for the culmination of our Asian prize and helped to raise just short of USD250,000 which, as usual, will be used to help disadvantaged children in the region.
In February, we completed the second edition of our African prize, which raised USD190,900. We also completed the first edition of our Sovereign Portuguese Art Prize with an exhibition that featured the artworks of the 30 shortlisted finalists from our schools’ Prize alongside the artworks of the 30 professional artists shortlisted for the senior prize.
The exhibition opened at the Palácio das Artes in Porto, before transferring to the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes in Lisbon. Finally, the exhibition moved to Estremoz, where the shortlisted artworks for the professional artists were displayed in the Museu Berardo and the shortlisted artworks for the schools’ prize were shown in the Howard’s Folly Winery Gallery.
Although the inaugural Sovereign Portuguese Art Prize raised a more modest amount of money than its more established counterparts in Asia and Africa, it has been a huge success and we now have something to build on. I would urge everyone to take a look at the finalists’ artworks from both prizes because the quality is extraordinary.
The Sovereign Art Foundation has now raised a little under USD11 million and changed the lives of thousands of children who would otherwise have had no chance. We are very proud of what we have achieved through the Foundation and the Prizes, but none of it would be possible without the support of our many staff, and many of our friends, partners, sponsors and clients who have contributed in so many different ways. Thank you to you all. Please keep it coming.’
The Sovereign Art Foundation
RCBI HIGHLIGHT
European second or alternative residency programmes – Cyprus
European second or alternative residency programmes have been receiving a lot of media attention. The UK and Irish residency-by-investment programmes have recently been closed with immediate effect, while significant amendments have been announced to investment-based residency programmes in Portugal, Greece, Spain, and elsewhere.
SOVEREIGN CSR
Sovereign Asian Art Prize May 2023
Indian artist Parul Gupta was declared the Grand Prize winner of the 2023 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, the 19th edition of Asia’s longest established and most prestigious award for contemporary art, at the Gala Dinner and Charity Auction at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong on 19 May.
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